Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

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16 Journey To The Blue Continent It was a beautiful day; the sun was burning down from the pale blue heavens, a soft breeze blew in from off the sea, and a few lazy- clouds drifted across the sky. lit was a scene of perfect serenity which was to be broken by the voices of men. It was early in the morning when we gathered together and plan- ned the day ' s adventure. There were four of us altogether, Pierre, Joseph, Archie and myself. Much had to be done before we would be able to start and so we did not loiter. Everything, from the food we were going to eaft to the boat we were going to use, was prepared and by 10 in the morning we were able to shove off from the dock. The boat was about 22 feet long and it was driven along fairly fast by an old dilapida ted outboard motor. In the boat we had placed the twelve aqua-lungs, which we woufld be wearing, fins, masks, spear- gun, food and plenty of gas for the motor. We went along for about an hour and a half and by that time we reckoned we were about ten miles off Bermuda so we decided to drop anchor and to try this spat for some spearfishing. We decided not to use the aqua lungs at first for we wished to save the air in case we found a good spot. A ladder was lowered over the side and we went over the edge of the boat and into the sea which was very calm. The water was extremely clear; so much so, that as we floated along on the surface, we seemed to be suspended in mid-aid and the bottom of the sea was only aibout thirty five feet below us. Each of us swam in a different direction in the hope that one of us would find something interesting. A quarter of an hour later Joseph swam towards us and told me that Pierre had found a wreck. Quickly we swam over to where Pierre was and he pointed the wreck out to us. It was not very much to see but we knew that it would be very interesting so we decided to explore. We swam back to the boat and brought it over the site of the wreck. However, before donning our masks again, we decided to have something to eat. After completing our lunch, we rested for a while in order to let our food digest, then we prepared the aqualungs. We each had two bottles of air which were joined so that we could have one hundred and forty cubic feet of air altogether. We lowered

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15 the bread crumbs (one hundred didn ' t matter). Pushing them back to Stonehenge Rock was hard work. X set to, and started heaving away at a large bread crumb with a spot of jam on it. I got half way home when I saw a light. I curiously went over to it and walked right into the trap. I dropped my bread crumb and ran, but I couldn ' t go for long and I fell down. Two of my friends hdlped me get up and carried me on their backs toward home, but we only got half way when they said they were tired and had to put me down. I finally got home (X don ' t know how) , and was told by a very cruel soldier on guard duty to go and pick utp my bread crumb, which I had left behind. I asked him if I could go and put some anitiderm pilaster on my burn (which, I was told later, came from a human ' s magnifying glass, a very hot weapon). He answered me in a very gruff voice, saying, No !, I gave him an awful look and got a boost along the trail by his foot. I started walking slowly back and finally found my bread crumb and was so tired, and my back hurt so much that I stumbled and fell all the way home again. When I got home and had pushed the bread crumb into the store room, I: went into my room and found my cousin, Fly- ing Ant, who had escaped from the human ' s Hamilton Hotel when it burned down. He was sitting reading the Ant Gazette which I had left behind when the bell rang, so we discussed the news together. The headlines were Over one thousand ants killed by humans , and I read aloud, Yesterday over one thousand ants were killed by a mechanical machine called a flit gun, which squirts a very poisonous gas called A.N.T. fluid. These ants were working very hard, trying to get a human ' s lunch tin back to their town called Anty, then they were suddenly being fired upon by their most mortal enemies, humans. A collection is being itaken at every home now for the relatives of the brave ants who died in the battle . And so ends my tragic story. I said good-bye to Flying Ant, and went to bed, dreaming about humans who were massacred by ants. A ;Df. FRITH, Form IV L

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17 a small ladder over the edge and slipped down it into the sea. We took along two crowbars in case we needed them which two of us cari ' ied spearguns in case we saw some dangeroursi fish. At first we just floated along the surface then we exhaled and began to sink slowly down to the bottom. As one drifts down through the sea, one experiences a strange sensation as if one was actually flying for you feel as light as a feather but you have complete control of yourself. As we descended we could feel the water gradually be- coming colder and then we reached the wreck. Our depth gauges showed that we were about sixty five feet down and we also knew that at that depth our air would last for about two and a quarter hours. Pierre and Archie immediately began to ex- plore the wreck. So JosQph and I decided to look around for some- thing to spear. I took a practice shot on a huge parrot-fish and it began to bleed like a stuck pig. Then I saw them. There were about twenty-five or thirty barracudas all around us and they seemed to copy everything we did, but I did not like the looks of them so I left the parrot-fish and swam away. However they must have been al- ready full for they did not even touch the parrot-fish. While Pierre and Archie were investigating the wreck, Joseph and I managed to spear a couple of good size amber- jacks. However one does not get much satisfaction when one spears a fish using an aqua- lung for the fish ' s chances of survival are practically eliminated. Around half past three our air ran out so we decided to call it a day and we stowed the aqua-lungs. Archie and Pierre had found a few old jugs, but nothing valuable. We then started the motor and headed home for we were well satisfied with our journey to the blue continent. L. PATTERSON, Form Upper VI.